A Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees on a Smallholding

Why bees belong on a Peak District smallholding

Few things suit a smallholding better than a couple of hives tucked behind the vegetable patch. Bees ask for very little ground, they work for free, and the payback shows up everywhere: heavier crops of apples, plums, raspberries and courgettes, plus a few jars of honey that taste unmistakably of where you live. Around here that flavour is hawthorn, willow, dandelion, sycamore and bramble, with lime from the valley bottoms and a hint of heather if you are lucky enough to have moors nearby.

Do not assume you will be harvesting heather honey in your first year. Getting hives onto the moors takes permission, a vehicle, and colonies strong enough to make the trip. For most beginners, the sensible goal is simply getting two colonies through a full Derbyshire year alive and thriving.

Choosing a site for your hives

Position matters more than most newcomers expect. In the Peak District, our particular enemies are wind, damp and late frosts, so pick your spot with care.

• Face the entrance south or south-east. Morning sun gets the bees flying early, which means more foraging hours on short summer days.
• Shelter from the west and south-west. A dry stone wall, hedge or building takes the sting out of prevailing wind and stops hives being blown over in winter gales.
• Avoid frost pockets. Cold air settles in hollows and valley floors. A site 50 metres higher can be a fortnight behind in spring, but it drains and warms far better.
• Keep hives on stands about 40cm off the ground, level, on a hard-standing or paving slab. This keeps them dry, lifts them above damp grass and saves your back.
• Provide water nearby. A shallow tray with stones, or a livestock trough with a float, stops bees bothering the neighbours' ponds.
• Think about people and livestock. Footpaths, bridleways, gateways and picnic spots are poor choices. Sheep will rub against hives, cattle will scratch on them, and horses can panic. A stock-proof fence around the apiary solves most of it.

If you rent your land or holding, check your tenancy agreement before you site anything permanent.

The kit you will need

Start with two colonies rather than one. It gives you a spare queen, brood or stores if something goes wrong, and it teaches you far faster because you have something to compare against.

• A hive type. National hives are the most common in Britain and spares are easy to find. A 14x12 brood box gives a little more room for our variable summers.
• Frames and foundation for brood boxes and supers, plus a queen excluder.
• A smoker, hive tool, bee suit and gloves. Buy the best suit you can afford; you will wear it more than you think.
• A feeder for autumn syrup, and a rapid feeder is worth the extra.
• Hive straps, a mouse guard and a varroa monitoring board. Add a wooden or mesh floor and a roof with a decent overhang.
• Records. A notebook or a chalked lid, anything that reminds you what you saw and when.

Budget somewhere in the region of £400 to £600 for two complete hives, then whatever a nucleus colony or a caught swarm costs you. Joining a local beekeeping association is the single best value purchase you will make; you will get advice, swarm-collection help and often second-hand equipment.

The beekeeping year in the hills

Beekeeping here runs on the weather rather than the calendar, but the rhythm is predictable. From March the queen builds up and the colony expands fast. April and May bring the first real nectar, and the dandelion and fruit blossom flow can be surprisingly strong. Swarm season runs from late April to July, and this is when you must inspect every seven to nine days, because a colony can raise queen cells and be gone in a fortnight.

Midsummer is for adding supers before they are needed, not after. Late summer is the time to take the honey crop, then treat for varroa and feed. By October the bees are settling down, and you should be hefting hives to check weight — a colony needs roughly 20kg of stores to see out a Derbyshire winter. Fit mouse guards, strap the roofs down, and leave them alone until a mild day in February or March for a quick check and an oxalic acid treatment if your association recommends it.

What to look for in an inspection

Work calmly, from the side, and keep the hive open for as short a time as you can. Only open up when it is mild, dry and preferably still — below about 12°C the bees struggle to recover, and a windy day makes them cross.

Lift out the outer frames first and check for eggs, young larvae and capped brood, which tells you the queen was laying within the last few days. Look for the queen herself, though do not panic if you miss her. Check for queen cells — play cups are harmless, but charged cells with a fat larva inside mean action is needed. Assess stores, space and temperament, and watch for signs of disease: chalky white mummies, sunken or perforated cappings, or a sour smell.

Finally, note your varroa count from the monitoring board. Treating at the right moment in late summer, when the colony is broodless or nearly so, is far more effective than a half-hearted job in spring.

Common mistakes worth avoiding

New beekeepers rarely fail through lack of enthusiasm. They fail by starting with one hive, by leaving inspections too long in May, by adding supers too late, and by underestimating winter stores. They also worry too much. Bees have been managing our climate for millions of years; your job is to give them a dry, sheltered box, room to expand, and enough food to get through to the willow catkins.

Expect little honey in year one, a decent crop in year two, and a lifetime of fascination after that. There is nothing quite like standing by a hive on a warm June evening in the Peaks, watching the foragers come home heavy with bramble nectar, knowing that half your fruit crop is down to them.